Pass on some belief

April 14, 2012

Last night I was thinking about our very frank talk during our last dinner date, with regard to bullying and child and teen suicide. As you know, that conversation left me with tattered emotions and it has taken me some time to make sense of some of the thoughts and feelings I juggled in the aftermath.

Your insight and willingness to straightforwardly talk about such a difficult topic humbles me. I was barely ready, at four decades your senior, to take such a topic and plunk it on the table before us. It’s a huge, black, amorphous blob of contemporary life that not many of us wish to face, but I believe we did it. We took a hard look at that monster and defined for ourselves what is right and wrong. We defined what hurts. We defined our rights to stand up for ourselves and those around us.

We committed to not allowing anyone to make us the victim, and to not allowing ourselves to become the perpetrator. We discussed how it doesn’t take much to fall to either side.

We discussed recent losses and couldn’t speak any longer. When bullying causes a ten-year-old child to believe her life is not worth living and she then takes her own life, I can no longer speak. Everything sticks in my throat and tears fall, and the only thing that keeps me from wanting to scream as loudly as I can is your face, earnestly promising to always talk it out, to always value life.

I believe you. I believe in you. Pass on some belief to someone who may be at risk. I’ll give you lots more to replace it.